Weird IV antibiotic problem

nick9742 · Sep 29, 2007

I don't know if any one here can shed some light on this but it really has me, my nurses, and doctors puzzled. I have really bad veins so peripheral IV's usually don't last more than a few hours on me. I was having to wait til the next day for a PICC line so I had a regular IV for 24 hours.

The weird thing is, during each IV infusion, my whole body would get chills and my hands and feet were ice cold. My fingers were kind of blue and nothing was making me warm. I also had a really bad headache and felt nauseated. This went away about 3 hours after the infusions were finished. I eventually had to get the IV replaced every 6 hours over that day and night (I had a total of 5 IVs in 24 hours) because they would end up swelling and turning red. Does this sound like an infiltrated IV? Could that cause all of those symptoms? The doctors or nurses didn't really think it was serious and did nothing about it even though I was extremely miserable that entire day and night.

I know that it sounds like an antibiotic reaction, but after I had my PICC placed nothing like that happened again, so it wasn't any side effects. I'm afraid of having a regular IV again...and I'm confused! If anyone knows what could have caused this or if you have experienced similar reactions from an IV but not a PICC, please let me know.

Thanks!

nick9742 · Sep 29, 2007

I don't know if any one here can shed some light on this but it really has me, my nurses, and doctors puzzled. I have really bad veins so peripheral IV's usually don't last more than a few hours on me. I was having to wait til the next day for a PICC line so I had a regular IV for 24 hours.

The weird thing is, during each IV infusion, my whole body would get chills and my hands and feet were ice cold. My fingers were kind of blue and nothing was making me warm. I also had a really bad headache and felt nauseated. This went away about 3 hours after the infusions were finished. I eventually had to get the IV replaced every 6 hours over that day and night (I had a total of 5 IVs in 24 hours) because they would end up swelling and turning red. Does this sound like an infiltrated IV? Could that cause all of those symptoms? The doctors or nurses didn't really think it was serious and did nothing about it even though I was extremely miserable that entire day and night.

I know that it sounds like an antibiotic reaction, but after I had my PICC placed nothing like that happened again, so it wasn't any side effects. I'm afraid of having a regular IV again...and I'm confused! If anyone knows what could have caused this or if you have experienced similar reactions from an IV but not a PICC, please let me know.

Thanks!

nick9742 · Sep 29, 2007

I don't know if any one here can shed some light on this but it really has me, my nurses, and doctors puzzled. I have really bad veins so peripheral IV's usually don't last more than a few hours on me. I was having to wait til the next day for a PICC line so I had a regular IV for 24 hours.

The weird thing is, during each IV infusion, my whole body would get chills and my hands and feet were ice cold. My fingers were kind of blue and nothing was making me warm. I also had a really bad headache and felt nauseated. This went away about 3 hours after the infusions were finished. I eventually had to get the IV replaced every 6 hours over that day and night (I had a total of 5 IVs in 24 hours) because they would end up swelling and turning red. Does this sound like an infiltrated IV? Could that cause all of those symptoms? The doctors or nurses didn't really think it was serious and did nothing about it even though I was extremely miserable that entire day and night.

I know that it sounds like an antibiotic reaction, but after I had my PICC placed nothing like that happened again, so it wasn't any side effects. I'm afraid of having a regular IV again...and I'm confused! If anyone knows what could have caused this or if you have experienced similar reactions from an IV but not a PICC, please let me know.

Thanks!

nick9742 · Sep 29, 2007

I don't know if any one here can shed some light on this but it really has me, my nurses, and doctors puzzled. I have really bad veins so peripheral IV's usually don't last more than a few hours on me. I was having to wait til the next day for a PICC line so I had a regular IV for 24 hours.

The weird thing is, during each IV infusion, my whole body would get chills and my hands and feet were ice cold. My fingers were kind of blue and nothing was making me warm. I also had a really bad headache and felt nauseated. This went away about 3 hours after the infusions were finished. I eventually had to get the IV replaced every 6 hours over that day and night (I had a total of 5 IVs in 24 hours) because they would end up swelling and turning red. Does this sound like an infiltrated IV? Could that cause all of those symptoms? The doctors or nurses didn't really think it was serious and did nothing about it even though I was extremely miserable that entire day and night.

I know that it sounds like an antibiotic reaction, but after I had my PICC placed nothing like that happened again, so it wasn't any side effects. I'm afraid of having a regular IV again...and I'm confused! If anyone knows what could have caused this or if you have experienced similar reactions from an IV but not a PICC, please let me know.

Thanks!

nick9742 · Sep 29, 2007

I don't know if any one here can shed some light on this but it really has me, my nurses, and doctors puzzled. I have really bad veins so peripheral IV's usually don't last more than a few hours on me. I was having to wait til the next day for a PICC line so I had a regular IV for 24 hours.

The weird thing is, during each IV infusion, my whole body would get chills and my hands and feet were ice cold. My fingers were kind of blue and nothing was making me warm. I also had a really bad headache and felt nauseated. This went away about 3 hours after the infusions were finished. I eventually had to get the IV replaced every 6 hours over that day and night (I had a total of 5 IVs in 24 hours) because they would end up swelling and turning red. Does this sound like an infiltrated IV? Could that cause all of those symptoms? The doctors or nurses didn't really think it was serious and did nothing about it even though I was extremely miserable that entire day and night.

I know that it sounds like an antibiotic reaction, but after I had my PICC placed nothing like that happened again, so it wasn't any side effects. I'm afraid of having a regular IV again...and I'm confused! If anyone knows what could have caused this or if you have experienced similar reactions from an IV but not a PICC, please let me know.

Thanks!

Aspiemom · Sep 29, 2007

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>nick9742</b></i>

I don't know if any one here can shed some light on this but it really has me, my nurses, and doctors puzzled. I have really bad veins so peripheral IV's usually don't last more than a few hours on me. I was having to wait til the next day for a PICC line so I had a regular IV for 24 hours.

The weird thing is, during each IV infusion, my whole body would get chills and my hands and feet were ice cold. My fingers were kind of blue and nothing was making me warm. I also had a really bad headache and felt nauseated. This went away about 3 hours after the infusions were finished. I eventually had to get the IV replaced every 6 hours over that day and night (I had a total of 5 IVs in 24 hours) because they would end up swelling and turning red. Does this sound like an infiltrated IV? Could that cause all of those symptoms? The doctors or nurses didn't really think it was serious and did nothing about it even though I was extremely miserable that entire day and night.

I know that it sounds like an antibiotic reaction, but after I had my PICC placed nothing like that happened again, so it wasn't any side effects. I'm afraid of having a regular IV again...and I'm confused! If anyone knows what could have caused this or if you have experienced similar reactions from an IV but not a PICC, please let me know.

Thanks!</end quote></div>

Wow, that sounds really miserable. My IV's would infiltrate very quickly, but at least mine would last a whole day. You poor thing! What you described sounded like infiltration as far as the redness and swelling, but not the cold feeling. If my antibiotics weren't out of the fridge long enough to warm up, it would make me have chills like that. But I would think the drs. and nurses were on top of that so it probably wasn't that.

I don't have any other ideas for you, sorry!

Aspiemom · Sep 29, 2007

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>nick9742</b></i>

I don't know if any one here can shed some light on this but it really has me, my nurses, and doctors puzzled. I have really bad veins so peripheral IV's usually don't last more than a few hours on me. I was having to wait til the next day for a PICC line so I had a regular IV for 24 hours.

The weird thing is, during each IV infusion, my whole body would get chills and my hands and feet were ice cold. My fingers were kind of blue and nothing was making me warm. I also had a really bad headache and felt nauseated. This went away about 3 hours after the infusions were finished. I eventually had to get the IV replaced every 6 hours over that day and night (I had a total of 5 IVs in 24 hours) because they would end up swelling and turning red. Does this sound like an infiltrated IV? Could that cause all of those symptoms? The doctors or nurses didn't really think it was serious and did nothing about it even though I was extremely miserable that entire day and night.

I know that it sounds like an antibiotic reaction, but after I had my PICC placed nothing like that happened again, so it wasn't any side effects. I'm afraid of having a regular IV again...and I'm confused! If anyone knows what could have caused this or if you have experienced similar reactions from an IV but not a PICC, please let me know.

Thanks!</end quote></div>

Wow, that sounds really miserable. My IV's would infiltrate very quickly, but at least mine would last a whole day. You poor thing! What you described sounded like infiltration as far as the redness and swelling, but not the cold feeling. If my antibiotics weren't out of the fridge long enough to warm up, it would make me have chills like that. But I would think the drs. and nurses were on top of that so it probably wasn't that.

I don't have any other ideas for you, sorry!

Aspiemom · Sep 29, 2007

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>nick9742</b></i>

I don't know if any one here can shed some light on this but it really has me, my nurses, and doctors puzzled. I have really bad veins so peripheral IV's usually don't last more than a few hours on me. I was having to wait til the next day for a PICC line so I had a regular IV for 24 hours.

The weird thing is, during each IV infusion, my whole body would get chills and my hands and feet were ice cold. My fingers were kind of blue and nothing was making me warm. I also had a really bad headache and felt nauseated. This went away about 3 hours after the infusions were finished. I eventually had to get the IV replaced every 6 hours over that day and night (I had a total of 5 IVs in 24 hours) because they would end up swelling and turning red. Does this sound like an infiltrated IV? Could that cause all of those symptoms? The doctors or nurses didn't really think it was serious and did nothing about it even though I was extremely miserable that entire day and night.

I know that it sounds like an antibiotic reaction, but after I had my PICC placed nothing like that happened again, so it wasn't any side effects. I'm afraid of having a regular IV again...and I'm confused! If anyone knows what could have caused this or if you have experienced similar reactions from an IV but not a PICC, please let me know.

Thanks!</end quote></div>

Wow, that sounds really miserable. My IV's would infiltrate very quickly, but at least mine would last a whole day. You poor thing! What you described sounded like infiltration as far as the redness and swelling, but not the cold feeling. If my antibiotics weren't out of the fridge long enough to warm up, it would make me have chills like that. But I would think the drs. and nurses were on top of that so it probably wasn't that.

I don't have any other ideas for you, sorry!

Aspiemom · Sep 29, 2007

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>nick9742</b></i>

I don't know if any one here can shed some light on this but it really has me, my nurses, and doctors puzzled. I have really bad veins so peripheral IV's usually don't last more than a few hours on me. I was having to wait til the next day for a PICC line so I had a regular IV for 24 hours.

The weird thing is, during each IV infusion, my whole body would get chills and my hands and feet were ice cold. My fingers were kind of blue and nothing was making me warm. I also had a really bad headache and felt nauseated. This went away about 3 hours after the infusions were finished. I eventually had to get the IV replaced every 6 hours over that day and night (I had a total of 5 IVs in 24 hours) because they would end up swelling and turning red. Does this sound like an infiltrated IV? Could that cause all of those symptoms? The doctors or nurses didn't really think it was serious and did nothing about it even though I was extremely miserable that entire day and night.

I know that it sounds like an antibiotic reaction, but after I had my PICC placed nothing like that happened again, so it wasn't any side effects. I'm afraid of having a regular IV again...and I'm confused! If anyone knows what could have caused this or if you have experienced similar reactions from an IV but not a PICC, please let me know.

Thanks!</end quote>

Wow, that sounds really miserable. My IV's would infiltrate very quickly, but at least mine would last a whole day. You poor thing! What you described sounded like infiltration as far as the redness and swelling, but not the cold feeling. If my antibiotics weren't out of the fridge long enough to warm up, it would make me have chills like that. But I would think the drs. and nurses were on top of that so it probably wasn't that.

I don't have any other ideas for you, sorry!

Aspiemom · Sep 29, 2007

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>nick9742</b></i>

I don't know if any one here can shed some light on this but it really has me, my nurses, and doctors puzzled. I have really bad veins so peripheral IV's usually don't last more than a few hours on me. I was having to wait til the next day for a PICC line so I had a regular IV for 24 hours.

The weird thing is, during each IV infusion, my whole body would get chills and my hands and feet were ice cold. My fingers were kind of blue and nothing was making me warm. I also had a really bad headache and felt nauseated. This went away about 3 hours after the infusions were finished. I eventually had to get the IV replaced every 6 hours over that day and night (I had a total of 5 IVs in 24 hours) because they would end up swelling and turning red. Does this sound like an infiltrated IV? Could that cause all of those symptoms? The doctors or nurses didn't really think it was serious and did nothing about it even though I was extremely miserable that entire day and night.

I know that it sounds like an antibiotic reaction, but after I had my PICC placed nothing like that happened again, so it wasn't any side effects. I'm afraid of having a regular IV again...and I'm confused! If anyone knows what could have caused this or if you have experienced similar reactions from an IV but not a PICC, please let me know.

Thanks!</end quote>

Wow, that sounds really miserable. My IV's would infiltrate very quickly, but at least mine would last a whole day. You poor thing! What you described sounded like infiltration as far as the redness and swelling, but not the cold feeling. If my antibiotics weren't out of the fridge long enough to warm up, it would make me have chills like that. But I would think the drs. and nurses were on top of that so it probably wasn't that.

I don't have any other ideas for you, sorry!

Wheezie · Sep 29, 2007

I have really bad veins too and would go through regular IVs every 6-8 hours while waiting for PICC placement. It definitely sounds like infiltration to me as far as the symptoms at the IV site. The other stuff is related too, in my opinion. The nervous system has a weird way of reacting sometimes. One time, right as they were inserting the needle for the IV, I got this extremely shocking jolt all through my arm down to the tips of my fingers - almost like an electric shock - and then my hand was numb for a few hours after that. Of course the docs and nurses either thought I was crazy or had no explanation for it. Either way, they didn't seem to care too much. So while I don't have an exact explanation for what you described, I do think it has to do with the IVs.

Can I ask why you don't have a port? I resisted getting one until I was in my 20s, and seriously it is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I wish I'd gotten one sooner, especially because of all the problems I used to have with my terrible veins. If you want to talk about it, PM me.

Wheezie · Sep 29, 2007

I have really bad veins too and would go through regular IVs every 6-8 hours while waiting for PICC placement. It definitely sounds like infiltration to me as far as the symptoms at the IV site. The other stuff is related too, in my opinion. The nervous system has a weird way of reacting sometimes. One time, right as they were inserting the needle for the IV, I got this extremely shocking jolt all through my arm down to the tips of my fingers - almost like an electric shock - and then my hand was numb for a few hours after that. Of course the docs and nurses either thought I was crazy or had no explanation for it. Either way, they didn't seem to care too much. So while I don't have an exact explanation for what you described, I do think it has to do with the IVs.

Can I ask why you don't have a port? I resisted getting one until I was in my 20s, and seriously it is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I wish I'd gotten one sooner, especially because of all the problems I used to have with my terrible veins. If you want to talk about it, PM me.

Wheezie · Sep 29, 2007

I have really bad veins too and would go through regular IVs every 6-8 hours while waiting for PICC placement. It definitely sounds like infiltration to me as far as the symptoms at the IV site. The other stuff is related too, in my opinion. The nervous system has a weird way of reacting sometimes. One time, right as they were inserting the needle for the IV, I got this extremely shocking jolt all through my arm down to the tips of my fingers - almost like an electric shock - and then my hand was numb for a few hours after that. Of course the docs and nurses either thought I was crazy or had no explanation for it. Either way, they didn't seem to care too much. So while I don't have an exact explanation for what you described, I do think it has to do with the IVs.

Can I ask why you don't have a port? I resisted getting one until I was in my 20s, and seriously it is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I wish I'd gotten one sooner, especially because of all the problems I used to have with my terrible veins. If you want to talk about it, PM me.

Wheezie · Sep 29, 2007

I have really bad veins too and would go through regular IVs every 6-8 hours while waiting for PICC placement. It definitely sounds like infiltration to me as far as the symptoms at the IV site. The other stuff is related too, in my opinion. The nervous system has a weird way of reacting sometimes. One time, right as they were inserting the needle for the IV, I got this extremely shocking jolt all through my arm down to the tips of my fingers - almost like an electric shock - and then my hand was numb for a few hours after that. Of course the docs and nurses either thought I was crazy or had no explanation for it. Either way, they didn't seem to care too much. So while I don't have an exact explanation for what you described, I do think it has to do with the IVs.

Can I ask why you don't have a port? I resisted getting one until I was in my 20s, and seriously it is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I wish I'd gotten one sooner, especially because of all the problems I used to have with my terrible veins. If you want to talk about it, PM me.

Wheezie · Sep 29, 2007

I have really bad veins too and would go through regular IVs every 6-8 hours while waiting for PICC placement. It definitely sounds like infiltration to me as far as the symptoms at the IV site. The other stuff is related too, in my opinion. The nervous system has a weird way of reacting sometimes. One time, right as they were inserting the needle for the IV, I got this extremely shocking jolt all through my arm down to the tips of my fingers - almost like an electric shock - and then my hand was numb for a few hours after that. Of course the docs and nurses either thought I was crazy or had no explanation for it. Either way, they didn't seem to care too much. So while I don't have an exact explanation for what you described, I do think it has to do with the IVs.

Can I ask why you don't have a port? I resisted getting one until I was in my 20s, and seriously it is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I wish I'd gotten one sooner, especially because of all the problems I used to have with my terrible veins. If you want to talk about it, PM me.

johannaleigh · Sep 30, 2007